Konami producer says it would be ‘the dream’ for Kojima to return to Metal Gear

Konami’s Metal Gear series producer has said it would be ‘the dream’ for the company to work with Hideo Kojima and other original development staff again.

Noriaki Okamura made the comments during a Japanese live stream on Friday, with the caveat that he wasn’t assuming Kojima and his former colleagues would necessarily feel the same way.

Kojima split from Konami in 2015, following a mysterious falling out following the conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 5. While Kojima still regularly talks about Metal Gear, he no longer has any control over the property.

However, it would appear that tensions between the pair may have cooled in the years since.

Asked if there was any chance of original staff members working on Metal Gear again during Friday’s live stream, Konami producer Okamura replied: “It’s not my place to answer on behalf of anyone outside the company, or to guess how they might feel about it.

“But just speaking for myself, personally, I’d like nothing better than to work with Mr. Kojima and the rest of the team again. If that could happen, it would be the dream.

“But people have moved on to new things and new commitments, so that’s just our current reality. We can’t just take for granted that everyone would work with us again, or let ourselves be completely dependent on them.”

He added: “I just don’t think it’s right for us to be the ones to make that kind of demand of anyone. So we’re working with the expectation that whatever we make, it’s up to us, it’s on our shoulders to do a good job.”

According to Okamura, “many” staff from the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater development team are already working on the upcoming remake. The main external developer working on the game is Virtuos.

Okamura himself was a producer for many Metal Gear spin-off games, including Metal Gear Acid 2, Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, and Metal Gear Survive.

In Friday’s live stream, the producer went on to claim that, like with the recent Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection, Kojima and the original staff will be credited in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake in some form.

“Since we had a lot of questions about this, Mr. Kojima and all the original development staff are of course credited for their original roles,” he said. “They were already included in the Master Collection, and they’ll be listed in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater as well. They’re a part of these games too, so absolutely, they’re in.”

Konami has previously stated that Kojima is not involved in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.

The game designer currently has a full schedule, with Death Stranding 2, Xbox game ‘OD’, a new IP with PlayStation, and a Death Stranding movie all in the works.